A devewoping country, awso cawwed a wess devewoped country or an underdevewoped country, is a nation or a sovereign state wif a wess devewoped industriaw base and a wow Human Devewopment Index (HDI) rewative to oder countries.[1] There are no universawwy agreed-upon criteria for what makes a country devewoping versus devewoped and which countries fit dese two categories,[2] awdough dere are generaw reference points such as a nation's GDP per capita compared wif oder nations. Awso de generaw term wess-devewoped country shouwd not be confused wif de specific weast devewoped country. The term "devewoping" describes a currentwy observed situation and not a dynamic or expected direction of progress. Since de wate 1990s devewoping countries tended to demonstrate higher growf rates dan de devewoped ones.[3]

There is criticism for using de term devewoping country. The term impwies inferiority of a devewoping country or undevewoped country compared wif a devewoped country, which many countries diswike. It assumes a desire to devewop awong de traditionaw Western modew of economic devewopment which a few countries, such as Cuba and Bhutan, choose not to fowwow.[4] An awternative measurement dat has been suggested is dat of gross nationaw happiness. Countries on de boundary between devewoped and devewoping are often categorized under de term newwy industriawized countries.[5][6][7][8] An awternative term awso used is "wow and middwe income countries" (LMICs).

According to audors such as Wawt Whitman Rostow devewoping countries are in transition from traditionaw wifestywes towards de modern wifestywe which began in de Industriaw Revowution in de 18f and 19f centuries.

Various terms are used for whatever is not a devewoped country. Terms used incwude wess devewoped country or wess economicawwy devewoped country, and for de more extreme, weast devewoped country or weast economicawwy devewoped country.

Criteria for what is not a devewoped country can be obtained by inverting de factors dat define a devewoped country:

There is no estabwished convention for de designation of "devewoped" and "devewoping" countries or areas in de United Nations system.[2]

The designations "devewoped" and "devewoping" are intended for statisticaw convenience and do not necessariwy express a judgment about de stage reached by a particuwar country or area in de devewopment process.[11]

The IMF uses a fwexibwe cwassification system dat considers "(1) per capita income wevew, (2) export diversification—so oiw exporters dat have high per capita GDP wouwd not make de advanced cwassification because around 70% of its exports are oiw, and (3) degree of integration into de gwobaw financiaw system."[12]

The Worwd Bank cwassifies countries into four income groups. These are set each year on Juwy 1. Economies were divided according to 2016 GNI per capita using de fowwowing ranges of income:[13]

Low income countries had GNI per capita of US$1,025 or wess.

Lower middwe income countries had GNI per capita between US$1,026 and US$4,035.

Upper middwe income countries had GNI per capita between US$4,036 and US$12,236.

The devewopment of a country is measured wif statisticaw indexes such as income per capita (per person), (gross domestic product) per capita, wife expectancy, de rate of witeracy, freedom index and oders. The UN has devewoped de Human Devewopment Index (HDI), a compound indicator of some above statistics, to gauge de wevew of human devewopment for countries where data is avaiwabwe. The UN sets Miwwennium Devewopment Goaws (MDGs) from a bwueprint devewoped by aww of de worwd's countries and weading devewopment institutions, in order to evawuate growf.[15]

Devewoping countries are, in generaw, countries dat have not achieved a significant degree of industriawization rewative to deir popuwations, and have, in most cases, a medium to wow standard of wiving. There is a strong association between wow income and high popuwation growf.

The terms utiwized when discussing devewoping countries refer to de intent and to de constructs of dose who utiwize dese terms. Oder terms sometimes used are wess devewoped countries (LDCs), weast economicawwy devewoped countries (LEDCs), "underdevewoped nations" or Third Worwd nations, and "non-industriawized nations". Conversewy, devewoped countries, most economicawwy devewoped countries (MEDCs), First Worwd nations and "industriawized nations" are de opposite end of de spectrum.

Anoder important indicator is de sectoraw changes dat have occurred since de stage of devewopment of de country. On an average, countries wif a 50% contribution from de Secondary sector of Manufacturing have grown substantiawwy. Simiwarwy countries wif a tertiary Sector stronghowd awso see greater rate of Economic Devewopment.

Some researchers in devewopment economics, such as Theodore Schuwtz who won a Nobew Prize in 1979, have found dat witerate farmers in devewoping countries are more productive dan iwwiterate farmers. They derefore recommend investing in human capitaw (education, heawf, etc.) as an effective toow for economic devewopment. Oders, such as Mohammed Tamim, bewieve dat economic devewopment is measurabwe in educationaw wevew from primary schoow to de university. They noticed dat wherever de educationaw wevew is raised, de wevew of devewopment is awso raised. They concwude dat de percentage of de schoowed popuwation is proportionaw to de economic growf rate and inversewy proportionaw in de demographic growf rate. The Take-Off of Wawt Whitman Rostow can start in a country if its popuwation is compwetewy schoowed. It is derefore necessary for de organization of a worwdwide education program, itsewf conditioned by anoder worwdwide program of birf controw and de estabwishment of a worwdwide organization for de impwementation of dis devewopment strategy.[16]

There are severaw terms used to cwassify countries into rough wevews of devewopment. Cwassification of any given country differs across sources, and sometimes dese cwassifications or de specific terminowogy used is considered disparaging. Use of de term "market" instead of "country" usuawwy indicates specific focus on de characteristics of de countries' capitaw markets as opposed to de overaww economy.

Muwti-dimensionaw cwustering system: wif de understanding dat different countries have different devewopment priorities and wevews of access to resources and institutionaw capacities[28] and to offer a more nuanced understanding of devewoping countries and deir characteristics, schowars have categorised dem into five distinct groups based on factors such as wevews of poverty and ineqwawity, productivity and innovation, powiticaw constraints and dependence on externaw fwows.[29][30]

There is some criticism of de use of de term "devewoping country". The term impwies inferiority of a "devewoping country" or "undevewoped country" compared wif a "devewoped country", which many countries diswike. It is criticized for being too positive and too negative.

It assumes a desire to "devewop" awong de traditionaw Western modew of economic devewopment, which a few countries, such as Cuba and Bhutan, choose not to fowwow.[4]

The concept of "devewopment" rests on de assumption dat Modernization deory howds. Modernization deory, as de dominant devewopment deory of de wate 19f and 20f centuries, has wargewy contributed to de definition of "devewopment". In short, it argues dat dere is onwy one way to achieve "modernity" and "devewopment" - dat of "Western" nation-states. Largewy chawwenged today, modernization deory stiww howds an important rowe in defining "devewopment".

The term "devewoping" impwies mobiwity and does not acknowwedge dat devewopment may be in decwine or static in some countries, particuwarwy in soudern African states worst affected by HIV/AIDS. In such cases, de term "devewoping country" may be considered a euphemism. The term impwies homogeneity between such countries, which vary widewy. The term awso impwies homogeneity widin such countries when weawf (and heawf) of de most and weast affwuent groups varies widewy. Simiwarwy, de term "devewoped country" incorrectwy impwies a wack of continuing economic devewopment/growf in more-devewoped countries.

In generaw, devewopment entaiws a modern infrastructure (bof physicaw and institutionaw), and a move away from wow vawue added sectors such as agricuwture and naturaw resource extraction, uh-hah-hah-hah. Devewoped countries, in comparison, usuawwy have economic systems based on continuous, sewf-sustaining economic growf in de tertiary sector of de economy and qwaternary sector of de economy and high materiaw standards of wiving. However, dere are notabwe exceptions, as some countries considered devewoped have a significant component of primary industries in deir nationaw economies, e.g., Norway, Canada, Austrawia. The USA and Western Europe have a very important agricuwturaw sector, and are major pwayers in internationaw agricuwturaw markets. Awso, naturaw resource extraction can be a very profitabwe industry (high vawue added), e.g., oiw extraction, uh-hah-hah-hah.

An awternative measurement dat has been suggested is dat of gross nationaw happiness, measuring de actuaw satisfaction of peopwe as opposed to how fiscawwy weawdy a country is.

List of countries or region(s) dat are graduated devewoped economies according to de IMF[edit]

The fowwowing, incwuding de Four Asian Tigers and new Eurozone European countries, were considered devewoping countries untiw de '90s, and are now wisted as advanced economies (devewoped countries) by de IMF. Time in brackets is de time to be wisted as advanced economies.

Three economies wack data before being wisted as advanced economies. Because of de wack of data, it is difficuwt to judge wheder dey are advanced economies or devewoping economies before being wisted as advanced economies.